Approaches to reducing smoking harm

[Gfamily]

According to the BBC, Canadian smokers can expect to see a health message on every cigarette, as per...



I do wonder whether it would be more helpful to have something like

My smoking reduction.jpg (62.89 KiB) Viewed 2432 times

[monkey]

Ex-smoker here. Warnings do help remind you that smoking is bad for you even if you get good at ignoring them.

On the examples, The Canadian one encourages you to stop smoking, it warns you not even to light one up every time. Yours doesn't. It implies that the 1st 1/4 is A-OK, because that's got nothing written on it and the 1st half isn't that bad for you. I suspect that many people would just smoke 1/2 a ciggie, but twice as often, because it only persuades you to smoke less of one, not stop. That might well be better for you, I don't know, but I bet British American Tobacco and the like won't mind it as much as the Canadian one.

How about fags like the ones in Fifth Element?

FOBO0-taAAY1DvB.jpg (382.25 KiB) Viewed 2416 times

picture taken off of some annon twitter account.

[Gfamily]

Ex-smoker here. Warnings do help remind you that smoking is bad for you even if you get good at ignoring them.

On the examples, The Canadian one encourages you to stop smoking, it warns you not even to light one up every time.

Umm, maybe - but my chinny reckon is that people know that smoking is bad for them, - and once they've got through the Canadian first bit, they're not going to see it any more - so a 'better to' stop here message may be as effective.
BTW - also ex smoker
Stopped when I had an operation scheduled about 8 weeks time, and thought the main thing worse than waking up after an operation would be waking up after an operation, and wanting a cigarette.

ETA - not suggesting mandating an operation for all smokers - though, it may well come to some of them; the lucky ones.

[monkey]

Ex-smoker here. Warnings do help remind you that smoking is bad for you even if you get good at ignoring them.

On the examples, The Canadian one encourages you to stop smoking, it warns you not even to light one up every time.

Umm, maybe - but my chinny reckon is that people know that smoking is bad for them, - and once they've got through the Canadian first bit, they're not going to see it any more - so a 'better to' stop here message may be as effective.
BTW - also ex smoker
Stopped when I had an operation scheduled about 8 weeks time, and thought the main thing worse than waking up after an operation would be waking up after an operation, and wanting a cigarette.

ETA - not suggesting mandating an operation for all smokers - though, it may well come to some of them; the lucky ones.

I was just looking at the article (clicky). It looks like the warnings will be printed on the filter, going by the 2nd image, cos that's the way they go in a box.

How about we shunt up Gfamily's "best stop here" and "good to stop" and add "c'mon, you know it's bad for you" (or similar) in the gap? That'd be better. No implication that any of it is good for you, encouragement to stop as soon as, and something to remind you of why the warnings are on the box.

[TimW]

I dunno, but perhaps inhaling burning ink isn't good for you either.

[lpm]

Smoking is down to the last 10%.

It's very hard to deal with the stupidest 10% of the population. The average person is stupid enough, we're now down to the people who can barely read. Pictures not words are the way to go.

[bob sterman]

Smoking is down to the last 10%.

It's very hard to deal with the stupidest 10% of the population. The average person is stupid enough, we're now down to the people who can barely read. Pictures not words are the way to go.

Pictures like this one???

[lpm]

Yes, pictures of people suffering the awful death by throat cancer aged only 73.

[bob sterman]

Yes, pictures of people suffering the awful death by throat cancer aged only 73.

Yes that's the whole point - but just emphasising it's not just people who can "barely read".

[dyqik]

Smoking is down to the last 10%.

It's very hard to deal with the stupidest 10% of the population. The average person is stupid enough, we're now down to the people who can barely read. Pictures not words are the way to go.

Pictures like this one???

I'm sure there are mugshots of notorious serial killers and other criminals where they have a cigarette.

[lpm]

Yes, pictures of people suffering the awful death by throat cancer aged only 73.

Yes that's the whole point - but just emphasising it's not just people who can "barely read".

Seeing your mate die horribly of smoking at 62, then carrying on smoking and dying in exactly the same way at 73, is on a similar stupidity level of being barely unable to read.

[monkey]

Yes, pictures of people suffering the awful death by throat cancer aged only 73.

Yes that's the whole point - but just emphasising it's not just people who can "barely read".

Seeing your mate die horribly of smoking at 62, then carrying on smoking and dying in exactly the same way at 73, is on a similar stupidity level of being barely unable to read.

Just about all the reasons I can think of for not being able to read don't make you stupid.

[Opti]

Seeing your mate die horribly of smoking at 62, then carrying on smoking and dying in exactly the same way at 73, is on a similar stupidity level of being barely unable to read.

I think it's fair to say that you just don't understand addiction issues.

[lpm]

No, it's fairer to say the victims just don't understand addiction issues.

[bob sterman]

No, it's fairer to say the victims just don't understand addiction issues.

So Hitchens (the 62 year old you were referring to) had no understanding of addiction issues did he?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDaZXZd19OM

[lpm]

Firstly, modern discourse is so diseased that Christopher Hitchens - a prolific writer - is reduced to a 1 min 21 second YouTube clip. Lol but also WTF.

Secondly, I called Hitchens an alcoholic on the other forum. There was outrage from those who worshipped their god. He wasn't an alcoholic, oh no, he was someone who functioned brilliantly on the vast amounts of alcohol he couldn't stop taking. Well until he died young from his drinking or his smoking or both, an event that negatively impacted his functioning.

Thirdly, Hitchens is famous for explaining away his alcohol addiction and turning his compulsion into something to be praised. For example
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2003/03/hitchens-200303
It has all the usual tedious justifications, almost comically clichéd. Alcohol makes you witty! Hemingway was a genius! Churchill drank, Hitler was teetotal! Non drinkers are boring! It's actually good for you, more old drunks than old doctors!

And the tragic line, "if you know how to make it your servant and not your master". As it turned out, his master killed him 8 years later.

[Al Capone Junior]

The American council on science and health has been railing on and on about the stupidity surrounding e-cigs for years now. Here's one article, many others will not be hard to find at acsh.org

https://www.acsh.org/news/2022/06/24/fd ... tion-16393

[bob sterman]

Firstly, modern discourse is so diseased that Christopher Hitchens - a prolific writer - is reduced to a 1 min 21 second YouTube clip. Lol but also WTF.

Errr....

Pictures not words are the way to go.

[IvanV]

I've seen some intelligent teenage children of friends, etc, take up smoking in recent times, usually correlated with other changes in their presentation to the world, activities, etc. Whether the smoking is specifically an act of rebellion, likely among other acts of rebellion, or related to the idea that fun is stuff that is dangerous and bad for you, I'm not sure. Or maybe these are two among several possible motivations.

I suspect it needs quite a clever approach, different from the usual, to undermine such motivations.

My teenage daughter complains that vaping has become cool among the young.